The boho goddess is filling her wardrobe for summer jaunts. She's not into festival mode quite yet -- while she's eyeing up the 2011 batch of wellies and Barbour jackets, she's more into colour and adventure for the month of June.

The boho goddess is filling her wardrobe for summer jaunts. She's not into festival mode quite yet -- while she's eyeing up the 2011 batch of wellies and Barbour jackets, she's more into colour and adventure for the month of June.

Girlie weekends away take on many forms, and they don't all involve trains, planes and automobiles. Our fashion queens chilled for the weekend, Romany-style, but they didn't sacrifice any of their fashion chutzpah by heading for a rural retreat.

It was heels all the way, from languishing on horse-drawn caravans to visits to the hen house. Those sensational orange, 1970s block-heel babes with suedette and patent detailing were simply too cute to be left at home. They cheered us up enormously on an otherwise dull Monday, and spotting them for €68 at Miss Selfridge triggered the start of an unexpected and most successful fashion foray around Dundrum Town Centre.

Heading for the hills, we knew we ought not depend on the weather, but great shorts are the all-time hard worker, equally fab with or without tights. We just knew that these delicious, caramel-hued, scallop-edged, beige cutwork suedette shorts were going to be brilliant in our summer kit.

Exceedingly well priced at €55 from Miss Selfridge at House of Fraser, toffee-toned buys are brilliant for accessorising and these suedette shorts don't carry the touch-me-not heartbreak associated with real suede.

The Ralph Lauren adverts this season were spectacularly tempting -- all that luxurious, nutmeg suede accessorised with a strong, silver, native American belt. But if you are a real suede fan, they have super shorts at Topshop for €84.

For our shoot this week, we layered up a quirky mix of daytime cool and evening party queen. The vintage-feel, khaki beaded vest was thrown with gusto into our weekend bag, thrilling us with its €68 price tag at Miss Selfridge and saving us a trawl of vintage shops.

House of Fraser beckoned siren-like with some exclusive labels that never fail to deliver -- Linea, Therapy and the fabulously retro Biba. The directional Label Lab slowed us down and revealed our Woodstock dip-dye dress, a honey of a find at €78.

The Whistles brown and black polka-dot jumpsuit brought us to a dramatic halt and we dived on it with all the agility and speed of Brian O'Driscoll. Yes, it certainly is pricey at €333, but every season deserves a hero buy and this is ours. Besides, we economised by accessorising it with a gold-leaf necklace (€12.50) from Topshop.

River Island has some fabulously nostalgic, floral-print, three-quarter-sleeve kimono jackets (€89). Ditto for Zara, and we found a stunning selection of kimonos at its branch at Dundrum Town Centre, which, by the way, is the only Zara in the country stocking their premium collection.

Hollister, sister to Abercrombie & Fitch, opens in Dundrum on July 15. In the meantime, you can check out the latest arrivals at the Centre with the new Brand Directory being launched later this month.